Princess of Ice
Tuesday 10:00pm
    Ami paced around her room, she couldn’t concentrate on her work at all. As she tried to do her maths problems, her mind drifted back to the Saturday night when Asuka didn’t show up. Could it be that he was jealous of the fact that she was excelling in his field of expertise? But that was impossible, because they couldn’t even compete against each other. And thinking about the dinner with him in the restaurant on the Friday, his tone and manner showed genuine happiness for her. If only she could work it out, she was distressed over several things, one, her anger at Asuka, and two, her feelings over him, her best friend.
   She wasn’t quite sure what she was mad at, the fact that Asuka did not show up for her celebratory dinner with her class, or the fact that he was found in the Moon Gardens Park with another girl in a compromising position - asleep. True, he had been apologizing for the past few days, but the problem of not being quite sure why she was mad, made it slightly difficult to forgive him, and for him to apologize.
    Asuka was old enough to date, in a way, the second reason why she could be angry, didn’t really make sense… it was none of her business. The rational side of her also told her that she had absolutely no reason whatsoever to be so angry if indeed the first rationale for her being angry was true.
    She sat on a folding chair on her balcony, facing the bustling street, the traffic and people rushed by like ants from where she sat. She didn’t understand why she felt so confused, why she felt like this, Asuka was always like this, he made her usually clear mind confused and fogged.
    She looked down at her hand, the hand that few days ago had opened the letter confirming her placement in the contest. Part of her wondered if she cared about it anymore, the reason for her entering the competition was because of Asuka, but he wasn’t really part of her life anymore. But then, the reason why he wasn’t part of her life anymore was because she didn’t want him there. And she didn’t want him there, because he was the one who had completely messed up her life with the competition. The problems all went in circles, before now, her life was a straight line, there were not loops like she was face with right now.
    Ami sighed as she touched the large aquamarine stone ring on her finger. Her mind lifted, her thoughts drifted back to her teacher, Deus Mercury, how she wished that he was with her to help her work out what was going on around her. “Deus, help me with this.”
    Suddenly, a whitish blue light erupted from her forehead, she slumped against the wall and was taken to The Grounds.
 
    “Well Ami, I heard you just then, you were thinking about me.”
    “I thought that you weren’t supposed to bring me here.”
    Wearing a white Toga robe, and a large gold staff, he shrugged. He was the youngest of all the Deus and the magnificent Ladies of The Grounds. “I’ve been known to break rules, many of them in fact.”
    “And if you get punished?”
    He smiled and sighed, putting on a mischievous face, “and all because of you, don’t you feel special?” Seeing the lack of response from Ami’s face, he dropped the jubilant tone and the happy face, “Forgive him.”
    “What do you mean by that?”
    “You two have always been friends for a long time, you’ll regret it in the long run if you don’t accept his apology.”
    “I’m confused, I don’t even know how I feel about him.”
    “I’m jealous, but I’ll be a good sport. Sort out what is between you two, but don’t get too attached, he has to leave soon.”
    “I’m used to it by now, he’s never stayed in the same place for long.”
    “I know. Whether he comes back or not is up to you.”
    “And if I don’t want him to be around me?”
    “What happened that night wasn’t his fault, he cares about you too much to hurt you like that.”
    “I don’t understand my feelings at all.”
    “You know why you are angry, you just don’t want to admit the reason.”
    “Deus, what is going to happen?”
    “I can’t tell you, it’s against the rules.”
    “It’s not like the first time you’ve broken the rules.”
    “Ami, this is something that you have to do yourself, I can’t tell you beforehand, but I’ll be with you every step of the way. Trust your instincts.”
 

Next